How does God declare His righteousness in regard to past sins?
God declares His righteousness through faith in Christ’s shed blood, granting remission for sins that passed through His forbearance. This righteousness is Christ’s own, so God remains just and fair while justifying everyone who believes. Believing is the only condition—nothing else.
Les explains that God declares His righteousness through our faith in Christ's shed blood. This declaration concerns the remission of sins that are past, which God passed over in His forbearance. The righteousness declared is Christ's righteousness, enabling God to be just and fair and to be the justifier of the one who believes—nothing else. Les also notes that it hasn't always been this way: from Abraham until Christ's first coming, God's program was primarily Jew only, with exceptions, and the Old Testament prophets wrote only to Israel. But now the condition is simply believing.